Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

If you are one of the many people who have bought a Starling Fitness Yearly Journal, then you know that the quote of the month is about success. You can see the quote here:

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.

Sir Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965)

I find this time of the year to be particularly hard to stay on my weight loss program. I love this quote from Winston Churchill because it reminds me that no matter how many days in a row I fail to stay on program, all I need to do is get right back on program to head down the path of success again.

If you would like to order your own Starling Fitness Yearly Journal, you can do so here:

• Starling Fitness » Order Your Starling Fitness Yearly Journal

If you order it now, you can choose the month you want it to start and it will last you a year from that date. You won’t have to throw away any unused days from the first of the year. You can start fresh now.

If you are feeling like eating something that you shouldn’t, try watching this meditation video:

Sometimes we eat just to relax. Here is a way to relax without putting food into your mouth. Enjoy this moment!

This postcard from PostSecret reminded me of one of my biggest worries:

It reads:

I feel alone and lonely. I run marathons with my name on my arm so I can hear the people say my name and cheer me on. How sad is that?

The truth is, I always think that if I were thin and physically fit, that I would never be lonely again. People would automatically be drawn to me just because I’m skinny instead of fat. This postcard makes me think that I might not be correct in that assumption.

PostSecret‘s beneficiary is the National Hopeline Network. It is a 24-hour hotline (1 (800) SUICIDE) for anyone who is thinking about suicide or knows someone who is considering it.

I love this funny video for the ExerTech 3000:

I love how one of the “actual customers” says,

But this is only a broom…

Seriously, though, next time you are tempted to spend your good money on some exercise gadget you see on television, remember this commercial for the ExerTech 3000. In the end, they all have about the same usefulness as a broom.

I’m pretty stoked about Seventeen Magazine’s pullout section this month. The theme is: Get Toned Without The Gym! Here is a scan of the pullout section here:

You can replace the following exercise equipment at home without spending a dime:

• Ab Roller
• Arm Machine
• Elliptical Trainer
• Leg Machine
• Stairclimber
• Treadmill

Seventeen magazine has a lot of video workouts here:

• Video Workouts – Seventeen.com

Next time you’re thinking that you can’t workout because you can’t get to the gym or you don’t have a gym membership, try out this workout and let it kick your butt!

I went on a magazine binge and this is one of the advertisements I pulled out:

It was inspiring to me, so I thought I would share it with you. Apparently, its an advertisement for Calvin Klein exercise clothes like these:

• Calvin Klein Performance Women Bermuda Short

• Calvin Klein Performance Women Cuff Sleeve Top

• Calvin Klein Performance Women Basic Capri With Accent Colors

I’m not really the target market for these clothes because I can’t see spending fifty bucks on one pair of gym shorts. I enjoy the inspiration, though…

A couple of weeks ago, I took a trip to my city library’s periodical department. In the back room, they have all the Seventeen magazines that have ever been printed. I took out some of the huge bound books and leafed through the Eighties. I found this advertisement from Reebok. I reads:

Because life is not a spectator sport.

I never realized how closely I took this advertisement to heart. All my life, I have spurned sports that don’t include me such as football, basketball and all those other sports that only allowed boys to play. I’ve also avoided watching sports on television. There is no point if I can’t play.

All the fun is in the playing, right?

I love sports like running, tennis, golf and swimming because I am EXPECTED to play. I’m even allowed to compete in running events. Whether I run fast or slow, I can sign up to compete in the next 5K in my town. They include me no matter what I look like. As long as I’m willing to tread the miles, I’m allowed to play along.

Next time you find yourself dreading your workout at the gym, think about sports that include you. Would you like to be in a bicycle race? Would you like to kick some butt on the golfing green? Make your workouts fun and enjoyable and you’ll be able to exercise without the drudgery. In fact, a workout at the gym means so much more when you’re doing it to be strong for your next race, game or competition.

Make your workouts MEAN something because life is not a spectator sport!

Last Sunday’s Sheldon comic caused quite a reaction in the forums. Here is a comment from one of the readers:

• Sheldon: Sheldon Talk forum: Feedback on Sunday’s “Grilling with e. coli” Strip

There is a “restaurant” in Memphis called Dyer’s (an appropriate name, you’ll see) that has been in business over 75 years. Their specialty is deep fried burgers (just the meat, to be totally clear). No, that’s not the killer part (well, yes, but it gets better/much worse). The killer part is that they deep fry the burgers in a big kettle of grease that has NEVER BEEN CHANGED in over 75 YEARS. They just top it off a bit if needed (probably not often, since the grease from the burgers adds to it). They just throw the patties in and they sink — when they’re done they rise to the top.

Here is a photo of the kettle of grease:

If the idea of 75 year old burger grease isn’t enough to keep you away from burgers for a while, then I don’t know what is…

The caption for this photo reads:

I’m faster than squirrels while riding on my Iron Duke.

Remember how that felt? Remember when your new tennis shoes made you run faster than you could have ever run before? Remember when you felt a surge of power from the speed of your bicycle? Remember how that felt?

Get that feeling back today. Instead of doing your normal exercise routine, go outside for a crazy run where you race to see how fast you can go. Pump up the tires on that expensive bicycle you bought two years ago and feel the chilly air race past your face. THAT is what exercise is about: getting to know your body and how it feels when you push it to its limits.

Feels good, doesn’t it?!

Via: Old Bike Blog: Some Funny Nonsense for Friday

This is a portion of a photograph from the Library of Congress called Bulgar Evening Meal.

Bulgar is a whole wheat product that has been touted recently for its health benefits. Here’s some information from Wikipedia:

The key attributes of traditional bulgur production are that the grain is parboiled, dried (usually by spreading in the sun), and the bran removed; significantly, it is processed from germinated grain, thus altering the glycemic index and nutritional values of simple wheat. Bulgur is often confused with cracked wheat, which is made from crushed wheat grains which have not been germinated nor parboiled. Although traditionally de-branned, bulgur and cracked wheat products available in shops may or may not have had their bran removed. Thus there are whole-grain, high-fiber versions of each. Bulgur is most often found in Turkish, Middle Eastern, Indian and Mediterranean dishes mainly Greece, Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus. It has a light and nutty flavor.

Bulgur can be used in pilafs, soups, bakery goods, or as stuffing, but is best known as a main ingredient in tabbouleh salad and kibbeh. Its higher nutritional value makes it a good substitute for rice or couscous. In Indian cuisine, bulgur or daliya is also used as a cereal with milk and sugar.

When I was a kid, my grandparents used to make cracked wheat for me for breakfast on the weekends. We would crumble a piece of bacon into the cracked wheat and eat it with milk. It wasn’t a sweet dish (although sometimes my grandma skipped the bacon and had hers with Sweet N Low).

When I look at that photo of the soldiers preparing bulgar for their evening meal, I wonder what happened to it? Bulgar was something that people ate regularly and it virtually disappeared from our diet only to reappear almost a century later. It’s kind of hard to cook. Did the advent of computer-controlled rice cookers bring it back? Is it the current obsession with “whole” foods?

Whatever the reason, bulgar is a grain that is quickly returning to the human diet. Get to know it and try eating it for breakfast or maybe your evening meal.